Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Twin Confusion

I am forever amazed at how little people know about babies - twins in particular. Sure, not everyone has twins. And I admit I didn't know much about babies before I had them. But how is it that some among us lack the most basic baby knowledge?

Boys have boy haircuts and wear clothes with trucks on them. Their clothes will often be blue, but they will assuredly not be pink. Girls wear pink and their clothes have flowers on them. A girl could be mistaken for a boy when the girl hasn't grown more hair than the boy sitting next to her. However, any pink is a clear indication of a girl.

When you're out with babies, people, especially older women, feel free to stop you to talk to you. I suppose this happens to anyone with a newborn, but the excitement doubles when they see it's twins.

"Oh my! Two babies!" someone will exclaim. "Are they twins?" the person asks.

"Yes, yes they are," I tell them.

"Oh, how adorable," they say smiling at the children. "Two boys?" they ask.

"No, one boy, one girl," I answer.

"How sweet," they'll say. "My niece had twins. Are yours identical?"

Now, I thought it was common knowledge that identical twins are the identical sex. I mean, I knew this way before I had twins. But, you would not believe how often I am asked this question.

"No, ma'am. They're not identical," I'll say. "Actually they have different fathers."

[blank stare]

[pause for effect]

"Just kidding," I say.

6 Comments:

Blogger Amy said...

GREAT comeback. Just today my husband's hairdresser, after establishing they were boy/girl based on the blue and pink clothing, asked if they were identical. I, too, thought everyone knew that opposite sexes couldn't be identical, but I find myself educating the masses on a daily basis.

4:39 PM, December 02, 2005  
Blogger Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah said...

I'm going to start using that one.

I actually had someone ask me if they were identical AT A TWINS CLUB MEETING. (she had identical girls)

I have a friend with b/g twins who always says "They have one BIG difference".

2:20 PM, December 08, 2005  
Blogger Gene said...

Yes ladies, please feel free to use that line. It will have a lot more punch coming from mom;)

2:20 PM, December 09, 2005  
Blogger Unknown said...

Different fathers. Ha! I almost shot milk out my nose!

7:27 PM, January 03, 2006  
Blogger Michelle Mama Bear said...

Great blog!! We have boy/girl twins too and always get asked if they're identical!!

5:56 AM, March 06, 2006  
Blogger Tawnja said...

My nieces are twins (2 in May!), but I have two kids who are a little close in age (16 months apart, so not too close!) , and I alsways had people asking me if they were twins? They weren't even the same gender or close in size, and yeah I know that sometimes there can be a substancial difference in size (and different gender...lol)but why would one atoumatically assume they were twins? I DO love the father comment, perfect comeback!

6:51 PM, March 13, 2006  

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Tuesday, November 29, 2005

A Typical Day

Aunt Julie recently baby-sat the twins for a day. Tracy wrote up a schedule to help her sister, so I thought I would post this little insight to a typical day.

Eugene and Olivia's Schedule

8:00am - Wake Up and diaper change. I usually put PBS on the TV and bring whoever is changed first downstairs. I put them in the Exersaucerer to watch TV until I finish changing the other one.

8:15-8:30 - Feed bottles. Eugene and Olivia both get 7 ounce bottles.

9:30 - Solids. I usually put them in the high chairs but feel free to use the booster seats that are in the spare bedroom. I feed them cereal (use the oatmeal today) and a fruit. I split a jar of the fruit between the two of them and then each of them get 1/4 cup of the dry cereal mixed with formula. You can also put water in the sippy cups for them if you'd like.

10:30 or 10:45 - Nap time. This is an estimate. I like them to be up by 12:30 and not to nap more than 2 hours. So, if they can't make it any later than 10:30, go ahead and put them down. If they look like they could stay up longer, they can stay up but no later than 11:00. They are usually ready for a nap by 10:30 or so.

12:30 - Wake from nap and diaper changes. I usually put on PBS again for the same routine.

12:45-1:00 - Feed bottles. Eugene gets 7 ounces and Olivia gets 6 ounces.

3:15 or 3:30 - Nap time.

4:30 - Wake from nap and diaper changes.

4:45-5:00 - Feed bottles. Eugene and Olivia get 7 ounces.

5:15 - Mommy's home!! (smiley face)

Notes: Olivia has had a tough time with naps lately. She had a hard time falling asleep and will usually cry for a bit. The morning nap goes better than the afternoon nap. I would let her fuss/cry for at least 15 minutes because she will usually fall asleep on her own. But, after 15 minutes you can go up and rock her if necessary. That will usually do the trick.


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Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Halloween

Happy Halloween! Sorry the photos are a little late. Did you think we would let the kid's first Halloween go by without dressing them in goofy costumes? Of course not. That would be irresponsible parenting. Eugene's first girlfriend will need to know that he was a turtle for Halloween. Olivia was a stunning pink leopard.

The twins enjoyed the night on the porch with us, as we handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. It quickly became apparent that we had too much candy, so I started handing out two pieces to everyone. Word spread fast, and soon kids were coming up asking if we were the "Two Piece" house. I hope that reputation doesn't carry over to next year.

1 Comments:

Blogger Amy said...

They were TOO cute, and they seemed to enjoy their Halloween costumes a lot more than mine did. I'm glad you posted a comment on my blog, as I love reading other twin parent blogs--yours are a couple of months older than mine, so I get to see what to expect.

5:10 PM, December 02, 2005  

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